1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fertilizers and more particularly to liquid nitrogen sulfur fertilizer composition and method of making same.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The application of nitrogenous fertilizers has long been used as a soil amendment by the farming industry and other, with such fertilizers being applied in either a powdered form such as by broadcasting, or in a liquid form by introduction into the water supply.
Also, the application of sulfuric acid improves soil structure by the defloculation of sand and clay soil particles. This is accomplished through formation of the sulfates of the alkali metals in the soil. As a result of this defloculation of soil particles, the soil water uptake and retention is improved. This in turn leads to higher crop yields with lower water requirements, and on a long term basis, conservation of water resources.
Application of sulfuric acid directly to the soil has given excellent results on high sodium and high salt soil when applied at rates of from one to three tons per acre. However, sulfuric acid is somewhat dangerous and difficult to handle and it requires specialized personnel and equipment to apply.
Thus, it is a common practice to apply nitrogenous fertilizers and sulfuric acid to soils, and in particular to alkaline soils. According to prior art techniques, the nitrogenous fertilizer is applied in one step, and a separate second step is employed to apply the sulfuric acid.
The above described two step method has several disadvantages. To begin with, it is simply more expensive to treat the soil in two different steps as compared to a single step treatment. There are safety hazards associated with the handling of sulfuric acid which would be desirable to avoid or minimize.
Generally speaking, liquid fertilizers are well known in the art; however, none of these existing liquid fertilizers employ sulfuric acid in the formulation thereof or are available in nitrogen-sulfate concentrations comparable with the products of the present invention.
The existence of urea-sulfate is also known; however, in its pure form it is a solid having 17.72% nitrogen by weight, and is inherently soluble in water which, of course, reduces the percent of nitrogen by weight when dissolved in water. To the best of my knowledge, no liquid fertilizer product exists which has liquid urea-sulfate therein and which contains 17.72% nitrogen by weight or more.